An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of Civic Virtue: Income level in adulthood vs. sociality acquisition in childhood

Many studies have shown that civic virtue in the broad sense, which relies upon morality and social norms, influences policy choices and effective implementation. However, how civic virtue is fostered has not been adequately analyzed. In this study, we conducted an empirical analysis focusing on economic conditions, such as current income and childhood living conditions, and the acquisition of social skills through interpersonal relationships in school and in the community as factors fostering civic virtue. The results of the analysis showed that while current income had a weak correlation with civic virtue in terms of the relationship with income and living conditions despite Japanese adages related to privation such as “poverty dulls the wit,” past economic status were significantly and positively related to civic virtue. In addition, the experience of playing with other children and participating in community events as an elementary school student was positively correlated with high civic virtue. These results provide clear evidence that the public policies implemented to address poverty among children and to create educational opportunities that lead to the acquisition of social skills are important from the perspective of fostering civic virtue.